The Washington Post

NEW DELHI, India Pakistan"s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, acknowledged yesterday that a majority of his countrymen oppose the U.S.-led military action in neighboring Afghanistan but told Secretary of State Colin Powell during meetings in Islamabad that Pakistan would remain part of the war effort as long as the campaign"s goals remain unmet.

Faced with mounting street protests against the bombardment, Musharraf urged U.S. forces to lose no time in apprehending and punishing accused terrorist Osama bin Laden, his militant followers and their sponsors within Afghanistan"s ruling Taliban movement. To that end, he said, Pakistan will continue to play a critical role in the campaign by sharing intelligence with the United States, extending overflight rights and providing logistical support, such as allowing U.S. forces to use two of its airfields.

"We have decided to be with the coalition in the fight against terrorism and whatever operation is going on in Afghanistan," Musharraf said at a news conference with Powell. "To this extent, we will certainly carry on cooperating as long as the operation lasts. But one really hopes that the operation is short."

Powell said the United States did not want to unnecessarily prolong the military campaign but declined to predict when bin Laden"s forces would be defeated and when the Taliban might fall from power. "It"s under enormous pressure, but I cannot tell you when that pressure will force it to collapse," Powell said of the Taliban.

Powell"s overnight visit to the Pakistani capital was aimed largely at stiffening Musharraf"s support for the campaign and promoting an initiative to establish a post-Taliban Afghan government that would be acceptable to Pakistan and other regional powers. Powell and Musharraf also took up other pressing issues, including escalating tension between Pakistan and India over Kashmir and the resumption of U.S. economic aid to Islamabad, before the secretary of state headed to New Delhi this afternoon for talks with Indian officials.

U.S. officials have undertaken the unwieldy task of stitching both India and Pakistan, longtime South Asian rivals, into the anti-terrorism coalition. Powell scheduled nearly identical visits to the two countries to avoid showing any semblance of favoritism. But his effort to sound sympathetic to Pakistani concerns about the disputed territory of Kashmir provoked a furor in New Delhi just in time for his arrival.

At the midday news conference in Islamabad, Powell said the Bush administration has a "desire to accommodate the aspirations of the Kashmiri people." Though American officials said Powell was only repeating long-standing U.S. policy, the comment incensed Indian leaders. They insist Pakistan is fueling the 12-year-old Muslim insurgency in Kashmir, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and raised fears of a full-scale war between the two nuclear-armed countries. Pakistan maintains that it provides only diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiri guerrillas.